The Black Princess
by SansaBolton
Summary: Regulus Black finds himself constantly cleaning up the messes his brother causes for their family. But finally, a chord is struck when Sirius abandons the girl he is betrothed to, on the night of her birthday. Regulus has to find a way to stop the Malfoy family from withdrawing their support from the Blacks or a war could break out between the two wealthiest pureblood families..
1. Chapter 1

_Summer Before 7__th__ Year_

Regulus Black was pacing.

Very few times in his life had he been at a loss for words but today he knew he wouldn't have the right words for what needed to be said.

He brought his hand up to his face, rubbing at his very square jawline. He knew he needed to get this over with as soon as possible… like tearing a band-aid off. He cursed his family under his breath. Why did he have to do this. He always had to fix his family's problems. No one else in his family had any finesse.

This problem in particular had no good solution. The news he had to bring was about to destroy his family's relationship with some of their closest allies. He was about to change everything for his own family, for the worse, and it was all his awful brother's fault.

Sirius. He ruined everything last night when he walked out. Sure, he'd left plenty of times but he always came back. This time he left for good. It was his 17th birthday and he had been packed for weeks. But Regulus never thought he would actually leave. Especially this weekend.

Regulus sighed. There was simply no way to fix this. He was about to deliver terrible news to his best friend.. the only person he actually cared about in the world. But he couldn't let her just wait and wait. He had to do it. There was no happy- _wait_. Regulus stopped pacing suddenly. He knew what to do.

Running out of his room, Regulus crossed the hall into his older brother's now deserted room. The only remaining things would be what Sirius hadn't wanted to take with him, so Regulus was sure he'd find what he needed. _Yes. _There it was. Hanging on the front of the wardrobe like Kreacher had put it there days ago. The tuxedo.

Grabbing the sleek black tuxedo he raced back to his own room and tore his dress robes off. Within minutes he had transformed his appearance and was ready to go. _Almost ready._ Now that he knew what to do Regulus moved with purpose. He took a moment to rummage through a large ornate box on his own desk. He went through the many compartments in it before he found what he was looking for. _Here. Perfect._ He put what he had found in a small black pouch and closed the box. He strode downstairs and stepped into the family fireplace and with a puff of powder shouted, "Malfoy Manor!"


	2. Chapter 2

_Summer Before 7__th__ Year_

Landing with grace and not a speck of floo on him, Regulus stepped out of the fireplace. Immediately he was greeted by the Malfoys' elf. The elf looked surprised to see him. _Yeah I didn't expect to be here either.._ Regulus thought as he strode up the stairs quietly. The elf chased behind him trying to get him to stop, but Regulus didn't have time for formalities. He wanted to fix this before the Malfoys had time to react to what had happened.

Hopefully there would be a happy ending in all of this tonight.

Finally reaching the top, Regulus paused. He considered what might happen when he opened the shiny black door at the top of the steps. He knew that even though he had found a solution, there was still going to be disappointment in her eyes. That killed him. _Now or never. _He took a deep breath and proceeded to enter the room.

There she was. Already dressed, and seated at her vanity there was Regulus Black's best friend. The most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Madison Malfoy. Regulus felt the corners of his lips turn up involuntarily. He knew he should be somber but seeing Madison in the dress she had been so nervous to wear was the opposite of sombering.

Her back was to him, but he could still picture every delicate feature. Her long blonde hair was so different than her brother's. His was platinum, long, and sleek. Hers was very light but still had colors like the sun in it. Long and curled into wavy lengths down her back, her hair was lovely. She shared the pale skin and blue eyes so typical to the Malfoy family but in some ways that were indescribable, her features were also very different.

She had a warmness to her that sometimes Regulus felt so deeply. He could recall, even as children, she was always sweet and kind to him even though it was his brother her parents wanted her to play with. She had a way of making you feel like you were the only one in the room and to someone like Regulus who had never been made to feel special, wanted, or even loved, at home, that was something he found in his friend.

But at the same time this was all only on the inside. Outwardly she put on quite a show for her father and his friends. Her nose was always turned up and she never interjected in their conversations, even when she had something of value to add. She kept to herself and did as she was told. She never caused trouble and she made excellent marks at school. All in all she had become the perfect bride for whomever her father decided to raffle her off to.

On this night that very thing was supposed to be happening. Tonight was her 16th birthday and it was supposed to be the dedication of herself to her betrothed, for the final time, before they would be married the next summer. Her father was going to allow her to graduate from Hogwarts before she was married but he surely intended on sealing the deal up before then.

The night of her 16th birthday was to be a lavish affair. Everyone who mattered was on the list, and they all came. The Malfoy Manor rivaled a wedding reception for a king, at the present moment and the sweet little daughter of the Manor's owner was waiting in her room for her betrothed to escort her to the ball.

The only problem was that her betrothed had turned 17 two nights before and was nowhere to be found. And unfortunately the man standing in her room, dressed for the ball in her honor, was not her betrothed, but his younger brother.

Madison turned her head to the side. She didn't need to turn around to know who was in her room, anyone else would have knocked or announced themselves. She quietly spoke, "he left, didn't he." It wasn't a question. It was a statement. She already knew what had happened because it had been her greatest fear since she realized it was a possibility.

Putting her head in her tiny hands Madison Malfoy breathed in a tiny quivering breath. "He promised. I don't know why I believed him. What am I supposed to do now.." Now she really was asking Regulus. He took three large paces towards her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"Tonight is going to be wonderful. You look incredible and you are going to have the time of your life. Everything will be alright. Just trust me." Regulus squeezed her tiny hand in his, silently imploring her to look up at him, and when she did he regretted it. Her blue eyes were filled with tears. It felt like a knife in his side.

"I'm so stupid for trusting him! I got all ready and then realized he should've been here hours ago. I'm the world's biggest idiot.. I should've told my brother this was a bad idea and maybe he could've spoken to father…" Regulus took his hands and wiped away at the small tears. "No, there was nothing you could've done, and I don't want you getting all upset about this. I hate seeing you cry. Can you put on a smile for me? Try to enjoy tonight?"

Madison threw her hands up, "sure I will smile as I walk down those stairs by myself to the hundreds of waiting social elitists, who will all snicker away at the pathetic girl who got walked out on, on her own birthday!" With this she began to have tears pool in her eyes. Regulus held up a hand, "stop it, I just fixed you! Do you think I would really come over here and ruin your night? I have a solution. It's not the best but it will do and if you go with it you can still have a nice, relatively embarrass-free evening."

Madison narrowed her eyes. "If you've got Snape waiting in the hallway I will castrate you Black! I know you think he's decent but I can't stand him!" Regulus let out a loud laugh. He grabbed his stomach as he continued to try to talk through his laughter. "No.. that is good though.. I'll keep that in mind.."

"Well what is it then!" Madison was growing frustrated. In less than 10 minutes she was supposed to descend that staircase to the ballroom and she had no idea what Regulus had planned. Regulus looked at her with a little hesitation now. Suddenly his plan felt really awful. How could he have considered himself a replacement for his brother. It all seemed ridiculous now. He didn't know what to say so he just stood there.

Suddenly Madison really took a good look at what Regulus was wearing. She saw he had his hair fixed nicely and he had obviously taken care to look nice. She realized what his plan was and a huge smile crept over her face. "You are without a doubt, my best friend in the entire world." Regulus looked up, "really?" Madison grabbed his hand, "yes now let's just put the finishing touch on making sure this works."

Madison snapped her fingers and an elf appeared. "Dobby is happy to serve mistress in any way that she needs but mistress must hurry to the ballroom soon!" The elf bowed low as he said all of this. Madison was busy scribbling something onto a piece of paper. She thrust the paper in Dobby's hands and said "make sure this change is made immediately Dobby!" The elf bowed, lower still, and disappeared with a pop.

Now with little time to spare Madison and Regulus headed out to the top of the grand staircase. Just as Madison was about to take a step down Regulus stopped her. He pulled out the black satin bag he had searched for earlier and handed it to her. As Madison opened it she found the most lovely black chandelier necklace. It was stunning. Dripping in the most tasteful amount of diamonds and black diamonds that she had ever seen, Madison immediately turned for him to put it on her. Regulus smiled widely as he fastened it on.

With that the two friends joined hands and walked down the staircase.

"Miss Madison Callista Malfoy escorted by Mister… Black."

The long pause between 'Mister' and 'Black' was undoubtable the announcer's uncertainty about the change from 'Mister Sirius Orion Black' to just 'Mister Black.' Madison could've changed the whole name but she figured there would be less waves of confusion in the crowd if she left it be that way; and she was right. There didn't seem to be anyone looking at Regulus with confusion. Most probably assumed he was already her escort. Their plan had worked.


End file.
